


late shift

by DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 04:42:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19244053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy
Summary: The sound of the bell over the door is what drew his attention to the fact that he was no longer the only person in the shop, and almost immediately, Fitz wished he hadn’t agreed to take over the closing shift. Normally, he wouldn’t have any customers come in, seeing as almost no one got coffee between the hours of six and ten in the evening, and if they did, they certainly didn’t visit the tiny cafe hidden behind the campus library for it. There was a first time for everything, it seemed.





	late shift

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: fitzsimmons + coffeeshop AU
> 
> spending today doing some cross posting from tumblr of some old stuff. like years old.

The sound of the bell over the door is what drew his attention to the fact that he was no longer the only person in the shop, and almost immediately, Fitz wished he hadn’t agreed to take over the closing shift. Normally, he wouldn’t have any customers come in, seeing as almost no one got coffee between the hours of six and ten in the evening, and if they did, they certainly didn’t visit the tiny cafe hidden behind the campus library for it. There was a first time for everything, it seemed.

* * *

He watched while the woman approached the counter, taking a deep breath and trying to keep from making an absolute fool of himself. At least, if he worked one of the busy shifts, he had either Skye or Lance to work behind the counter with him and he wasn’t entirely alone with people, but that was never the case during the slower hours. If he ever did have someone else behind the counter this late, it was because they needed to make up lost hours at the end of the week, and even then they’d leave early and Fitz would work on whatever paper or assignment he had that evening so that he could have a free weekend.

Not once, in all the times he’d worked the closing shift, had anyone ever _walked in_.

His voice refused to work for a few drawn out seconds, and he could feel the heat building in his face that meant his cheeks and ears were turning a rather bright shade of red, and the inevitability of embarrassment was the only thing that made him open his mouth to say anything at all. Which would have been a good thing that would start conversation, if a bit awkward, had she not cut him off before he could say anything.

“You are still open, aren’t you? I’m sorry, it’s just that my roommate took the last of my tea for a project without telling me, and I can’t do anything with my own project unless I’ve had a good cup of tea – oh my gosh, I’m rambling. I”m so sorry.”  


Fitz froze as soon as her accented words reached his ears, and it took only a few moments for him to shake his head. A few more passed before he was thinking clearly enough to bend down and check the shelves under the counter, stepping back enough that his words wouldn’t end up muffled. “I think there’s some earl gray in here somewhere. If not, I just saw some – here it is.” He set the box of tea bags on the counter and grabbed a large paper cup from the other side of the cash register. “Hot water is…” A wave of his hand served as a gesture to direct her to the self-serve coffee dispensers while he shook his head. “Just… Just tea, then?”

She responded, but he didn’t hear it, mostly because he’d begun to focus on her eyes. They sparkled despite the fact that it was almost nine thirty in the evening and she was very clearly tired from a long day, and the color reminded him of when his mother used to put honey in his tea whenever he was sick.

“Sorry?” His voice squeaked when he realized that almost a full minute had passed since silence fell between them, and then he was distracted all over again, this time by her soft smile. If things went on like this, it was very likely he’d spend the rest of the shift awkwardly trying to follow what she was saying, and then end up with some overtime pay – actually, he might not complain all that much if it came to that.

This time, he made sure he could focus on her words, trying to ignore the fact that he spent some of the time reading her lips – and then getting distracted by her lips – before he knew what she’d said at all. “Could I get a pastry, too? If I don’t bring something back for my roommate, she’ll accuse me of only coming down here to get out of the dorm while she’s on the phone with her boyfriend – not that that’s entirely incorrect.”

His heart pounded against his rib cage for a few beats before he found his voice again, retrieving one of the wax paper squares and a small paper bag to fetch a treat for in her a way that followed regulation. “You can sit in here until I close up. No one else is going to come in this late, and I’m really just working on an assignment sheet until I’m allowed to leave.” To make his point, the Scotsman nodded his head toward the open binder propped up where he’d been standing before. “I mean, if you want.”

The silence that followed his offer seemed suffocating, and he almost thought he was going to pass out until the sound of a chair sliding across the laminated tile and the zipper of her purse brought him back to reality. “If I’m going to stay, you might as well wait on that pastry.” The sentence brought a smile to his lips, and he nodded his head while fetching a small carton of milk and a few packets of sugar for her to use for her tea.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of project is your roommate doing that requires tea?”  


Her laugh – more of a scoff, really – made him lift his head, leaning against the counter and forgetting entirely about the sheet of mathematics equations he was supposed to be solving that had barely been touched despite the hours he’d spent on it. “I have no idea. She could just be taking it to see how I react, honestly.”

“What about your project?” The question left his lips before he could think about it, almost immediately wishing he hadn’t asked and then very quickly altering his opinion to be glad that he did.  


“Technically, it’s a part of my thesis. I want to test to properties of dendrotoxin to see if they can be manipulated to create a compound that would render a subject unconscious – but, if I can’t even determine how exactly it works-”  


“-you won’t be able to put the principle into practice.” Fitz hadn’t meant to finish her sentence, not at all, and his widened eyes surely conveyed as much even while he stumbled over words trying to explain himself. “I mean, if I were… All I meant was-”

He cut himself off, shaking his head and looking back down on the sheet of paper he was supposed to be focusing on before going back to his dorm and suffering through his own roommate on the phone with his significant other. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. “I know what you meant.” His chin lifted enough that he could look over at her again, opening and closing his mouth a few times before giving up on trying to speak at all. “I’m Jemma, by the way.”

“Fitz.” Even saying his name was difficult, and he knew he was only making more of a fool of himself, but doing anything else was downright impossible. “Well, _Leo_ , technically, but most people just call me Fitz.”  


In the end, it took over an hour for her to even get her tea, both of them too caught up in talking – or, in his gaze, making himself look like an utter fool – to do anything that might be considered productive. When they finally noticed the time, long after her tea was gone and he’d used his own employee card to not only get her a discount but pay for her late night snack himself, it was nearly midnight, and there was no way either of them wanted to leave until they knew they could spend almost every night shift doing the exact same thing.


End file.
